Beginning next week, Twitch streamers will have more tools to connect with their communities thanks to the addition of more than 350 new tags "related to gender, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ability, mental health, and more", as the streaming platform announced in a recent blog post. "The list of tags include transgender, Black, disabled, veteran, and Vtuber, among many others."
Twitch was formerly strict about tags, preferring they be used to describe what was happening in streams rather than the streamers, with tags including achievement hunting, first playthrough, and social eating. The exception was the LGBTQIA+ tag, and its success as well as repeated requests from transgender streamers in particular has led Twitch to reconsider its stance. Viewers aren't just looking for 'content', they want streamers they can identify with and return to.
Describing how the list of new tags was arrived at, Twitch wrote, "We've partnered with several independent, third-party organizations such as GLAAD, The Trevor Project, AbleGamers, SpecialEffect, and other experts focused on the progress of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and marginalized communities. And finally, we reached out to members of the Twitch community for their feedback."
That feedback will be an ongoing process, and suggestions for additional tags are being solicited via UserVoice.
Twitch is also in the process of revising its categories, with the recent addition of a Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches category that advertisers can choose to opt-in or opt-out of, in response to controversy after a hot tub streamer's channel was demonetized without warning.
